The Pogues, Shane MacGowan and an incredible Cork gig in Sir Henry's with Elvis Costello 

The famous South Main Street venue hosted The Pogues' first visit to Cork 

The Pogues and Shane MacGowan in the mid-1980s. 

God knows when Shane MacGowan first came to Cork. As a child, he may have taken a B&I boat through the city’s ferryport on one of his many visits to the family homestead in Tipperary, or perhaps had even come through the airport (Ryanair hadn’t made an impact yet, so only relatively well-heeled families like the MacGowans could afford air travel).

But we do know the fateful date that the late singer had made his first big impact on Leeside. On Sunday,  January 5, 1986, the 25-year-old led an incredible gig at Sir Henry’s. It was in the wake of Rum Sodomy & the Lash, the classic album the band had released the previous August, and many of the approximately 550 people who packed the South Main Street venue would enjoy one of the finest nights of their gig-going lives.